Selection process

24. How does the selection process work?
Each nomination is first appraised within the county where the group is operating. This appraisal is led by the Lord Lieutenant, Her Majesty's representative in the County, assisted by a County Assessment Panel comprising leading representatives from diverse sectors of the community. Nominated groups from the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and those from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are also assessed by the Lieutenant Governors of the Crown Dependencies and by Panels established by the Devolved Administrations.

A Specialist Assessment Panel judge nominated groups against the Award criteria, taking into account the appraisal made in the Counties, Crown Dependencies, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The Specialist Assessment Panel's recommendations are passed to the Main Award Committee who advises the Minister.

HM The Queen makes the Awards on the advice of the Minister. Once Her Majesty has given Her formal approval, Award recipients are informed on a strictly confidential basis until the public announcement by the Palace is made on 2 June, the anniversary of the Queen's Coronation. A list of Award recipients is published in the London Gazette. Consolidated PR provides media advice and assistance to Award recipients.

Each nomination is judged solely on merit and there are no set numbers of Awards for a particular sector or region. However, the system does strive to achieve ‘reasonable balance’ of factors such as age, sector and demography over a period of time.

25. Who sits on these panels?
County Assessment Panel Membership reflects the diversity of the local area. The Chair appoints appropriately qualified people with local status from, for example:

• the local voluntary and community sector;
• local services (health, education, environment, social services);
• the arts and leisure industry;
• areas such as youth work or urban re-generation;
• the business sector.

The Specialist Assessment Panel County comprises 12 independent experts in volunteering from across the UK. It is chaired by the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office, the government department which has overall responsibility for voluntary and community activities.

26. Are checks made on nominated groups?
Yes, so we can be satisfied that groups are genuine and that their success in the selection process would not bring the scheme into disrepute.

27. How many groups are put forward for central consideration?
So as to get a good geographical spread of nominations, the local panels are invited to select and recommend a given number of groups for central consideration. That number is based on a percentage of the nominations received for each area.

28. Who does the final selection?
The Main Award Committee. This is a small group of individuals (no more than 8 members) who come from various different backgrounds and represent the public face of the Award. Their role will be to review of the Specialist Committee’s recommendations as well as to make an assessment of the Award’s overall delivery and standing as a National Honour.

29. Isn’t having three tiers of selection bureaucratic?
No. It is very important that groups nominated by the local community are initially considered locally by people from that community.

30. If a group is not selected, will the nomination go forward to the next year?
Nominations will be considered at any point within 3 years of nomination. You may be asked by the Award Administrator to complete a form with any updated information about your nominated group during the 3 year period that the nomination is eligible for consideration.

If, after three years, your nominated group has not been successful, you may assume that the nomination has lapsed. You or other nominators may re-nominate, but a different outcome is unlikely unless your nominated group has had additional achievements.